The present invention relates to a method of producing a tooth-cleaning device having an interdental treatment part, to a tooth-cleaning device, to a wire for an interdental treatment part, and to a tooth-cleaning device.
For the purpose of cleaning spaces between the teeth, in addition to toothpicks or dental floss, use is also made of tooth-cleaning devices having exchangeable interdental treatment parts, e.g. in the form of a treatment head borne by a stem. Tooth-cleaning devices having exchangeable interdental treatment parts have the advantage that the handle with the fastening element can be used for a number of applications, while only the interdental treatment part need be replaced.
As an alternative, it is also possible for the interdental treatment part to be connected to the handle in a non-releasable manner during production. U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,404 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,584 disclose tooth-cleaning devices in which the interdental treatment part is connected to the handle in a non releasable manner. For the purpose of anchoring the interdental treatment part, the wire stem of the latter is preferably encapsulated by injection molding. Alternative anchoring methods are constituted by the stem being adhesively bonded in a blind hole of the handle or by the stem being anchored by means of ultrasound or thermal action.
A tooth-cleaning device having an exchangeable interdental treatment part is known, for example, from DE A 101 62 998. This has a handle which can accommodate an interdental treatment part. The stem of the interdental treatment part can be introduced in the longitudinal direction of the handle. A fastening element is connected to the handle in a pivotable manner. Pivoting the fastening element into the closed state results in the stem of the interdental treatment part being bent and fixed.
Further tooth-cleaning devices are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,924, EP 1 743 547 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,295. In the case of the tooth-cleaning devices which are known from these documents, the stem of the interdental treatment part is clamped in a similar manner in each case, for example by way of a cap which is fitted over the handle. In the closed state, the fastening element clamps the stem of the interdental treatment part tight.
The stem usually comprises a wire made of two twisted strands, and the stem has a diameter of approximately 0.48 mm to 0.75 mm. For the purpose of cleaning narrow spaces between the teeth, it is necessary to use a wire of relatively small diameter and thus a stem of relatively small diameter. This gives rise to the problem of it no longer being possible to use known handles for interdental treatment parts or of it no longer being possible for the interdental treatment part to be fixed securely between the moveable fastening element and the handle. A further problem with relatively small stem diameters resides in the reduced resistance to fracturing in the case of alternating bending, which inevitably occurs when use is made of interdental treatment parts.